KAALtv.com

North Iowa Takes Brunt of Weekend Storm

Posted at: 05/20/2013 7:49 PM
By: Brianna Long

(ABC 6 NEWS) -- Portions of northeast Iowa got hit hard by last night's storms, mostly in Mitchell county. Several roads are closed due to flooding, and in Charles City, the Cedar River is still rising.

Residents in Charles City are on high alert as the Cedar River continues to overflow it's banks.

"We're just trying to get the word out that the flooding is going to be taking place and we're working on notifying, even going door to door," Whipple said.

When the Cedar River hits 18 feet, it's considered to be at major flood stage. Monday night, it's expected to crest around 20 feet.

Over in Osage, crews are assessing damage from flooding that happened last night.

"It rained a lot and didn't quit. We've had a lot of road closures, we've had a mile west of Osage we've got a road, highway nine, that has washed out and that will be closed for some time," emergency management coordinator Ray Huftalin explained.

It's the same story in Stacyville, where water is still flowing in across roadways.

Resident Jude Adams said, "It's really scary. That park would have been full of campers, maybe next weekend. But probably not anymore. It's gonna take a while to go down, it's a lot of water."

Kevin Mayerhofer added, "It's just too bad. Last year, we could have done anything for rain and couldn't get it. Now, we get more than we could ever need."

And officials want to get the message across that when there's water, be smart.

"Anybody who is traveling not to go through those barricades and try to go through the water because you never know what is underneath, if the road is washed out," Whipple said.

Across Mitchell county, the plan is to assess, and look toward the future.

"If there is enough that we can turn it in for some disaster services, that's what we're working on right now," Huftalin said.

While Charles City is bracing for the worst that is still yet to come.

Larry and Jody Milleson told ABC 6, "I have 12 tenants that I want to make sure that they have a place to live when it's all over with. So we're here riding out the storm, or the wave I guess."